History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 91

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey
Number of Pages: 1104

USA > Ohio > Summit County > History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio > Part 91

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In the fall of 1812, an army for the protec- tion of these frontier settlements was stationed at Old Portage, under the command of Gen. Wadsworth, and after the surrender of Gen. Hull, this post was re-enforced with a battalion under Maj. George Darrow, of Hudson, and Rial McArthur was Captain of one of the com- panies. Two of the boats composing the fleet on Lake Erie, under Commodore Perry, were built at Old Portage. They were launched and floated down the river to the pineries, and there detained for masts, and while the build- ers were preparing them, a wild porcupine was killed, and from this one of the boats was named the " Porcupine " and the other " Port- age," both of which took part in Perry's battle, on the 10th of September, 1812.

In 1805, one Aaron Norton, afterward Judge Norton, of Portage County, bought of Solomon Stodard ten acres of land in the southeast cor- ner, Lot 27, now comprising the waterfalls and iron bridge, where he erected the first grist- mill in the township. This was duly appre- ciated as a great convenience by the inhabit- ants of this and adjoining townships. Previous to this, the method of grinding meal was to cut a tree so as to leave a concave surface in the solid stump, shaped like a wash basin, then bend over a small tree or sapling for a spring- pole, bringing its tip over the stump. To this tie a bark or wythe and suspend an iron wedge, ax or other weight, for a pestle. The corn was then shelled and poured in the stump, and the weight taken in hand when the pounding pro- cess was commenced, and was continned till a tolerable good quality of meal was made. The next great publie necessity seemed to be a dis- tillery, and one was built on the present site of the cheese factory, and the dammed waters (this is not intended for profanity) of the little brook from the opposite side were piped across to be used in the distillery. Gains in the rock on the south side yet show the location of that ancient dam. This building was destroyed

by fire, and another distillery was erected by Wyley Hamilton and Aaron Norton just below the rock, at the south end of the present iron bridge. It was so situated that the little brook triekling over the rock was taken into the building high enough to run of its own accord into the vats or still-tubs. The mill property was afterward bought by Col. Rial MeArthur, and run by him for years. When the distillery was abandoned as a manufactory of whisky, it was used as a dwelling, where lived Abraham Osborn and his two sons, Elias and Arad, who were millers. Afterward it was used as a meeting-house, then for a schoolhouse, and, finally, went to ruins. In the erection of the mill, Mr. Norton employed one Seth Webster, a skilled workman from Blanford, Mass., as millwright. Having become such an immod- erate drinker, he was hired, with the promise of three gallons of whisky, extra, to abstain from drinking the day the mill was raised, as it stood in a precipitous. rocky, and dangerous place. This promise he kept, and, on the com- pletion of the work, took his extra allowance, and in company with a colored man, started on foot to Canton, and stopping for the night at a camp in the woods, Webster had become crazed with whisky and called for some water. While his traveling companion had gone after it, Web- ster, in a fit of delirium, ran out into the woods, got lost and died. He was found the next morning. It was rumored that he had been murdered, but he undoubtedly died of delirium tremens, and his body was covered by brush to protect it from the wolves, till he was taken back to Northampton for burial. He was the first white man buried in the township. Another man by the name of Burge, from Pennsylvania, was employed as a workman on this mill, who acquired an unenviable reputation on account of the marvelous an incredible stories he was in the habit of telling. One of these was as follows : That once upon a time, he was on- gaged in shingling a mill on the bank of a stream. When near the ridge his foot slipped and he fell, sliding head foremost down the roof. At the caves he caught the cornice with his hands, and turned a complete somersault through the air, and fell into the water without being harmed. Immediately after telling this, he was sent on to the rock shelf to fix a prop to the timbers of the dam, which had nearly filled with water, and while doing this, he, by some

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unlucky mishap, knocked loose the fastening, when the dam gave way, and he was swept over the rocky precipice by the resistless floods, falling twenty feet into the chasm below. Those who saw him swept over supposed he would be either crushed by the timbers, killed in the fall, or drowned in the seething waters. They rushed down below to hunt for his mangled re- mains, and were surprised to see him crawl out with tangled, matted hair, eyes and mouth filled with mud and sand and water dripping from his person, yet unharmed. As this seemed more strange and incredible than anything he had told, it reversed the opinion of those who thought him unreliable, and thereafter, his reputation for truthfulness improved, while he became quite a liero.

Rial McArthur sold this mill to Capt. Law- ler, an educated Irishman, who had been a teacher. After getting possession, he claimed the building had not been properly constructed, and needing repairs, he took out the machinery and pulled down the structure, by which time his money had become exhausted, and he, drunken and dissipated, took to staying in a cavern some twenty rods below the mill. There he had placed a board upon the rocks, near a trickling spring, from the rocky ceiling over- head. So, while lying upon his board, he could reach his cup for a drink of pure, cool water on one side, or his jug for a drink of whisky on the other-making himself happy as Diogenes in his tub, until, one day, Arad Os- born and a young friend, walking along the bank overhead, heard him singing below. See- ing a bowlder lying handy, and the size of a salt-barrel, they rolled it over the bank, and it went crashing among the rocks below, as if loosened by an earthquake. Excited and fright- ened, Lawler ran out, calling upon the Holy Saints to protect him from destruction. Not daring to go back there again, he hired a boy to bring out his jug. Provoked at the destruc- tion of the mill and the loss of payment for it, McArthur ordered him to leave the country, which he promptly did, and, not long after, was drowned in the Upper Cuyahoga. His summer resort has since been known as " Lawler's Cave."

Mr. Burnham and wife, accompanied by a neighbor, were one day going to see a wild precipice, half a mile below Lawler's Cave. Twin children, Almira and Alvira, were with them. Mrs. Burnham was carrying one of

them, and her husband the other, when, just at the crest of a short, steep hill, down which they were to go, Burnham's foot was tripped by a root, and he, unable to resist, was sent rapidly down to the very verge of the precipice, over which he seemed to be impelled by the momentum he had acquired, when, with a des- perate effort, he threw back the child, and it caught by the limbs of an evergreen shrub, growing from the erevices of the rocks, and was thus saved. That place is known as " Burnham's Jump Off," to this day. Just above this place was, in early days, built, by Moses and Oliver Dewey, a saw-mill, perhaps the first one in the township ; but, as it was off the line of the main road, and of difficult ae- cess, went, after a time, into disuse, and, as another one had been built up at the grist-mill. this was allowed to go to ruins. In 1824, two brothers-in-law, Elisha Prior and Elisha Per- kins, erected a saw-mill about two miles further up this stream, which, with the mill erected by F. J. French and Jesse Hays, manufactured most of the lumber used in the buildings of this township, besides large quantities for Cuy- ahoga Falls and Akron. At the place where the State road crosses this stream, the cas- cade is formed by a broad, shelving rock. pro- jecting far out over the retreating cavern be- low. Over this the water pours in a veil of glistening lace-work, behind which the pedes- trian could pass under the unbridged stream dry-footed, and was used as a sort of dry-ford by the Indians. From the gorge below, where William Prior and sons built their grist-mill. a most picturesque and beautiful view is ob- tained. Looking up stream, the old mill on the right, the shining cascade and precipitous rocks and cavern, while, higher up, the mason- ry and airy structure of the iron bridge, grace- fully arching the stream with a single span. the tapering evergreen trees overhanging their banks and casting shadows in the water, with cheese-factory and gently sloping hills in the distance, presents a picture of rare beauty and loveliness. The Prior & Perkins saw-mill was purchased by Harry Pardee, who, in 1842. erected in connection an extensive woolen fac- tory, which was continued in successful opera- tion for many years. Besides this, a chair-fac- tory, wood-turning and other industries, were carried on, but being remote from the public road, it was allowed to go into disuse.

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HISTORY OF SUMMIT COUNTY.

A distillery was built by Abel Vallen in about 1814, near the junction of Mud Brook with the Cuyahoga River, for the manufacture of potato whisky. The secret of this process was known only by old Mr. Hovey, who im- parted his skill to Samuel Sage. A sufficient quantity was made up to supply the home de- mand, which was quite extensive, besides freighting an open barge, which was sent to Mackinaw, and disposed of with satisfactory results. Potato whisky was fiery and "dev- ilish " till it got old and smooth, when it be- came more palatable, and was considered a good article. This distillery was afterward convert- ed into a castor-oil factory, and the people cultivated Ricinus communis, but not in suffi- cient quantities to keep up the manufacture. In later years the dairying business was sup- posed to pay better than Palma Christi, and on the site of the old distillery, a joint-stock com- pany cheese factory was erected, but for some cause the manufacture of cheese has been also discontinued, showing this to be a fated locality for enterprise. On the river bank in Lot 72, Stephen Ayres erected grindstone works, and supplied a necessity to the local trade, besides shipping largely to Cleveland. In the same building he used as a factory he bored for salt, and at a depth of 125 feet entered a vein of salt water and gas. He intended to establish salt works, but was taken off by the yellow or gold fever of California, in 1850, and the prop- erty went into the hands of L. J. Mix, who util- ized the gas for light and fuel for his residence, and the saline waters for salting his stock and curing meat. This well would have been a great boon in early times when salt had to be brought from Cleveland on pack-horses, and cost from $25 to $35 per barrel. Prospecting was afterward made in this locality for petrole- um oil, but as no great depth was ever reached, the search was a failure. A pioneer hunter liv- ing two miles above here was visited one winter's day by Julins Sumner, then of Middle- bury, who delighted in a ramble through the forest in pursuit of game. With a gun on his shoulder he started down the Cuyahoga, arriv- ing at the cabin of his friend at sunset, tired and hungry enough. Being invited in at the door through which he was hauling great logs of wood for a fire, he made known his wants and was told that there was not a mouthful of food in the house, but that a deer, killed in the

morning, hung to a tree just over the river, which, after kindling the fire, was brought over, sliced, stuck on sticks, and held over the fire to broil. In the absence of salt, a puncheon floor plank was pulled up, which covered an empty pork barrel, in which was some brine; in this they saturated the cooking venison, and ate a hearty supper seasoned with a good appetite. Next day a boy was sent to mill with a bag of corn for meal, and a jug for whisky, when feast- ing and revelry ensued.

All the records of Northampton Township showing its organization, naming, first elec- tion and officers up to the year 1820, were destroyed by fire at the burning out of Capt. Aaron French. The only original doc- ument now known to be left is in the posses- sion of J. M. Hale, of Akron. It is part of a poll-book tally-sheet, from which the date has been torn, of an election held when Northamp- ton and Bath must have constituted one elec- tion precinct. There were eighteen votes cast, of which six were by electors living in Bath, The following named persons were chosen offi- cers : Samuel King, Town Clerk ; John Hale, Simeon Prior and David Norton, Trustees ; Wi- ley Hamilton, Overseer of the Poor; Elisha Perkins, Constable ; William Prior, Israel Par- ker and Jason Hammond, Supervisors ; Luman Bishop, Fence Viewer ; and Simeon Prior. Treas- urer. The first Justice of the Peace in this township was Samuel King. The principal township officers elected April 3, 1820, were Aaron French, Township Clerk ; William Prior, Abel Woodward and James French, Trustees ; and Daniel Turner, Treasurer. The clerks elected for the ten succeeding years were as fol- lows : 1821, Moses Dewey ; 1822, James French ; 1823, William Prior ; 1824. -; 1825, Rees Jones, who refused to serve ; 1826, William Prior : 1827, Gurden Prior; 1828, William Prior ; 1829, Oliver Dewey ; and April 5, 1830. William Prior, and the persons filling that place for the next ten years to 1840 were Gurden Prior, Oliver Dewey, George W. Hogue, Anson Greenman, J. C. Alvord, Henry W. Prior, Peter Voris, Jr., and Daniel Penfield. Those serving as Township Clerk after that to present date were Arad Osborn, four terms ; Gurden Prior, seven terms ; Seth W. Harrington, six succes- sive terms ; J. C. Johnston, seven terms ; Will- iam Prior, Jr., seven successive terms ; C. L. Norton, one, and A. B. Galloway, two. Daniel

Alexander Brewster

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NORTHAMPTON TOWNSHIP.

Turner, Hezekiah King, Elisha Prior, John Smith, Rees Jones, Nathaniel Hardy, Job Har- rington, Adam Galloway, Joseph Wallace and F. L. Harrington have filled the offices of Treasurer, and Simeon Prior, Abel Woodward, James French, Aaron French, Hezekiah King, William Prior, Gibson Gates, Silas Greenman, Job Harrington, Rial MeArthur, Alvin Wright, Rees Jones, Joseph Sanford, William Norton, Nathaniel Hardy, Anson Greenman, Benjamin Templeton, Cyrus Parker, W, H. Boyce, Frank- lin Carr, Walter Waite, John Harrington, George S. Richardson, O. F. Rice, H. W. Prior, William Hardy, William McLoney, P. D. Hardy, George Botzum, Adam Botzum, Edwin Folk, Abner Hitchcock. James Harrington, S. S. Prior and Henry Lowrey have at some time since its organization officiated as Township Trustees.

The Ohio and Erie Canal was laid through this township along the Cuyahoga River in 1825, was built in two years, and, on July 4, 1827, Job Harrington took his team to Akron, and towed the first boat to Cleveland. On board was the Governor of the State, and other im- portant officers, with many eminent citizens, and a band of music. The pomp and circum- stance of this trip, with banners fluttering in the breeze, and inspiring strains of music echo- ing among the hills, was such a pageant as never before witnessed. Jonathan Williams, the old Indian hunter, was present, as the boat moved slowly into the lock at Old Portage, and stood gazing in wonder and astonishment when a friend ventured to ask his opinion. He said it " looked almost exactly as he expected it would, except the boat was about three-eighths of an inch too long."

Northampton had for many years, and has not yet entirely outgrown its reputation, of having a grade of morals scarcely up to that of the more fortunate surrounding townships. This was due principally to the influence of its distilleries, and the fact that, at and after the building of the canal, the river region was fre- quented by rough characters, among whom was a river bully by the name of Isaac Wells, who would drink whisky, quarrel and fight at every opportunity. Besides this, it was infested with a notorious gang of counterfeiters and horse- thieves. The Mallett brothers, from an adjoin- ing township, erected a " mint " on a lonely iso- lated point of land, densely covered with timber,

and ever since known as the " money shop." Here a foundry for melting mixed metals with molds, dies, plates, engraver's tools, etc., were kept secreted. When the annoyance to the citizens of this locality, from the presence of strange and suspicious visitors, became no longer endurable, a public meeting was called, and, by mutual agreement, the mint was destroyed. This disconcerted the manufacturers ; but the business was not suspended. Other and better secured localities were provided, where bogus coin was minted, and counterfeit bills manu- factured extensively for the trade outside. One of the leaders of this gang, a man of portly, dignified mein, prepossessing in his personal appearance, generous to his friends, kind and benevolent to the poor, always ready to relieve the wants and sufferings of the sick or distressed, had so won the affections of his fellow-towns- men, that he was elected a Justice of the Peace, which office he was filling satisfactorily, till arrested, and himself taken before a higher court, tried, convicted and sent to punishment. Even there, his self-sacrificing generosity won him hosts of friends, and made him conspicuous among all the others, securing for him, finally, his restoration to freedom and citizenship. The invasion by Asiatic cholera, so fatal in many localities, entered the precincts of his prison walls, claiming more than its share of victims from among these unfortunate people. Here, standing by the bedside of the sick and dying, which appalled the bravest hearts, he did not shrink from duty, and, for this devotion, he was pardoned, and retired to quiet, private life. Notwithstanding the questionable character of some of its earlier inhabitants, Northampton has not yet been destitute of citizens possess- ing as high a grade of moral principles, honest integrity and respectibility as any in the land.

Joseph Ritter and Jacob Morton came on from the East and built a house on the west side of the river, where they moved in and made themselves obnoxious to the citizens by living with women to whom they were not mar- ried. Neighbors objected to the scandal, from this pernicious canse, but to no purpose ; quiet remonstrance was in vain. They were notified to leave, but refused to go, and then William Hardy, Morris Mills and Ira Hovey went there in the daytime and commenced tearing down the house. Ritter came out with his gun to shoot the assailants, but was seen by a neighbor, Mrs.

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Eddins, who screamed with fright. Her husband started after Ritter, who ran, but was caught, the gun taken from him, discharged and thrown away. The house was demolished and the par- ties dispersed. Next day a warrant was issued by Squire Osborn for their arrest, and Loveland, the Constable, went first to Hovey's. The young man, seeing him, ran up stairs on the ladder, and attempted to pull it up after him, but the lower end was seized by the Constable when the tug commenced, Mrs. Hovey, in the meantime, plying the broomstick and hot words. Loveland secured the ladder, and when part way up his cornered prisoner kicked a hole through the clapboard-roof and went out, jump- ing to the ground fastened the door outside, got on the Constable's horse and rode off. Har- dy was next found on a load of hay, but re- fused to get off to be arrested, so the warrant was returned without producing the prisoners in court, and costs were afterward paid by friends.

The first frame house built here was a store for Col. Rial McArthur, and was framed by scribe rule, fitting each tenon to its mortise, then numbered and taken apart till all was fin- ished. This store was said to have been stocked by goods brought in a single box, and distributed about the different shelves. They would go a good way in supplying finery for the sparse population at that date. The first building framed by square rule was the school- house built at Steel's Corner, in 1832, of which Edward Prior was architect and boss car- penter. The timbers were hewn and framed in different localities, and not brought together till ready for raising when the spectators were disappointed at seeing it go together without a mistake.

The early settlers were employed in clearing off' the forest which cumbered the ground. Large fields of fine forest trees were cut down and felled into great timber windrows, or heaps, and after becoming dried and seasoned were set on fire and burnt. Timber was a drug in the market ; lumber sawed and delivered in market was only worth from $4 to $6 per thou- sand. Good barrel staves and heading, at $1, and "pit coal," burnt and delivered in Akron only brought $3.50 per hundred bushels. Agri- culture, stock-raising and dairying has since become the prevailing occupation. Before dairying became general, choice sheep, imported

from Canada, were brought here till the flocks were greatly improved. The increased value of dairy products induced the citizens here to form a joint-stock company, in the winter of 1870-71, which chose Henry W. Prior as its President and Fred S. Prior as its Secretary. The factory was erected on the French farm, on the north bank of Mud Brook, just above the State road crossing, and is known as the Iron Bridge Factory, costing about $2,000, and was opened for business in the spring of 1871. The average price paid for milk the first few sea- sons, was about 10 cents per gallon. This fac- tory business has developed a better grade of dairy cows, and put more ready money in cir- culation among its patrons than they had be- fore. It was leased to S. Straight & Son, of Hudson, and soon after bought by them, at a loss to the stockholders of one-half its cost price. In the season of 1880, it manufactured from the milk of about 500 cows, 20,000 pounds of butter, and 168,000 pounds of cheese, and the average price paid for milk was 93 cents per gallon of ten pounds. In 1839, William Prior & Sons, Edward and Henry, bought of Jesse and Eliza Hays the water-power and site in the gorge below the waterfalls, where they erected and put in operation a grist and flouring mill. Two run of French buhr stones and bolters were put in, and power supplied by a nineteen-foot breast wheel. The senior mem- ber owned his interest in this property till his death in 1872, but the other shares changed owners frequently until the whole property was bought by John Hart and Adam G. Steel.

Trumbull County records show a road to have been laid from the salt springs in that county to Old Portage, crossing diagonally through the southeast corner of Northampton, a portion of which, between McArthur's cor- ners and the Elisha Prior residence, was va- cated to accommodate the mills. In 1807, a public highway was laid out from Canton, via Middlebury, to Cleveland, and known in North- ampton as the "old State road," from which the trees were cut and cleared by William Prior, under a contract, and the proceeds of this job averaged him 25 cents per day for himself, team of oxen and an extra hand, they sleeping in blankets on the ground, and work- ing industriously from daylight till dark. The road from McArthur's kept on directly east to Stow Village, at the big spring, instead of

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turning to the right for Cuyahoga Falls, as now located.

In 1836, Peter Voris, a surveyor,- who then lived in Northampton with one Snodgrass and Judge Henry, laid out a hundred acres at the the mouth of Yellow Creek, west side of river, into a village plat, and called it Niles. But few lots were ever sold. The property was afterward bonght by J. and J. Vallen, and re- duced back to common lands, on account of high taxes. A warehouse and store was built here at the opening of the canal, and Nathaniel Hardy also erected a tavern, which received extensive patronage for many years. Nicholas Botzum and Thomas Owen ran rival mercan- tile establishments here at the same time, each occupying opposite sides of the canal, but the decease of Thomas Owen and sale of his goods by administrators, broke up competition, and, at the building of the Valley Railroad through Northampton, a station was located here, called " Botzum," in honor of John A. Botzum, a most thorough and energetic business man, who took an active part in the railroad enterprise. He has been a merchant here for years, and is now the station-agent and Postmaster. Below here, on waste waters of the canal, have been two saw-mills built to manufacture lumber for the Cleveland trade. The Browns have also kept up a steam saw-mill on their farm for years, which has contributed largely to the convenience of lumber business. A railroad known as Clinton Air Line was laid in a diag- onal line across this township, from northeast to southwest, crossing the Cuyahoga between the Hovey and Brown farms. The grading of some portions of this road was commenced and stone hauled on for culverts. but, for some reason, the enterprise was abandoned. A rude and primitive establishment was built down the Mud Brook by William Rose, in which he turned a considerable quantity of wooden bowls for the local trade. It was near this that Mr. Filley built a saw-mill, and the property was afterward bought by L. D. Clements, who erected another and larger, known as the Clements Saw-mill.

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History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 91

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848- Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey Number of Pages: 1104

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey
Number of Pages: 1104